Virginia Governor Debate Closing Remarks

After a "lightning round" of questions from Chuck Todd, including a question on a potential name change for Washington's NFL team which both candidates ignored, McAuliffe and Cuccinelli closed the debated with prepared closing remarks that didn't hold back on personal attacks.

McAuliffe called out his opponent for being driven by ideology, saying "we must work in a bipartisan way." He dismissed Cuccinelli's advantage in government experience, presenting it as a negative to voters. "His experience is in dividing people," McAuliffe said. He said that Cuccinelli is only interested in "promoting his own ideological agenda." McAuliffe finished by stressing his advantage among women voters, saying, "Virginia women have had just about enough of Ken Cuccinelli's experience."

Cuccinelli's closing remarks, while initially focused on himself and his endorsements from Virginian small business, quickly turned to McAuliffe. Cuccinelli told the audience that McAuliffe "has no plan to bring [jobs] back" to the state, and that McAuliffe's experience with Greentech proves he's better at driving jobs away. "Terry will fight for Terry," Cuccinelli said, again stressing the idea that his opponent is only driven by self interest. Cuccinelli closed with the main goal of his potential governorship, "leaving businesses and families with their own money."

Ben graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a B.A. in English Literature and a minor in Political Science. He recently traveled through New England looking for pie. His second-favorite pastime is googling pictures of politicians laughing.